Red Wings stop Blues' winning streak

Mar 13, 2011 - 7:35 AM

St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Pavel Datsyuk scored the game-winner in the
third period and Niklas Kronwall added a goal and two assists as the Detroit
Red Wings took a 5-3 win over the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center.

Justin Abdelkader had a goal and an assist, while Ruslan Salei and Darren Helm
lit the lamp for the Red Wings, who have won their last two after a four-game
losing streak. Jimmy Howard stopped 26 shots in the win.

Matt D'Agostini had a goal and an assist, while David Backes and Adam
Cracknell also scored for the Blues, who had a three-game winning streak
stopped. Jaroslav Halak allowed all five goals on 27 shots.

St. Louis had tied the game with a pair of goals in the third period, but
Datsyuk gave his team a 4-3 lead with 6:47 left as he got the puck at the
outside right circle, skated between two defenders and from the slot snapped a
wrister past Halak.

Just 1:20 later, Abdelkader gave his team some insurance when he took a pass
in the neutral zone, cut to the slot around a defender and buried a wrister
for a 5-3 advantage.

Adam Cracknell scored the first goal of his career at the 9:17 mark of the
first when his shot from the low left circle beat Howard to give the Blues a
1-0 lead.

"Thinking shot the whole time, wasn't trying to be fancy or anything like
that, and caught him off-guard and got it," Cracknell said.

Detroit, though, tied the game less than three minutes later when Salei got a
wrister past Halak and, 16 seconds later, Helm made it a 2-1 game off a tip-in
from Abdelkader.

Detroit took a 3-1 lead with 1:25 to play in the second on the power play on
Kronwall's 11th goal of the season.

However, Backes scored 3:48 into the third on a shot from the inside left
circle and the Blues tied the game at the 6:19 mark of the third when Kevin
Shattenkirk kept in a clear at the right point and his slap shot was deflected
in by D'Agostini.

Game Notes

Detroit reached 90 points for the 15th straight season. The team has reached
100 points in each of the last 10 seasons...St. Louis hits the road for four
games starting in Anaheim on Wednesday...Detroit hosts the Capitals on
Wednesday...Detroit has won four of the five games with St. Louis this season.
The two teams will meet for a final time on March 30 in Detroit.